UPDATE: I previously copied 2/8 as 28.  Ooops. the event takes place on Wednesday, Feb 8!

Monthly DIY CNC night is upon us again!

Are you interested in automated manufacturing? Do you like 3D printers, laser cutters, automated mills, router tables, and other awesome automatons? Then this is the night for you!

DIY CNC night is an ever-growing group of enthusiastic amateurs and professionals in the field of do it yourself automated manufacturing (ie 3D printers, CNC mills, laser cutters, cake frosters, etc) hardware and software.

Please come if you’re interested in learning more, already have a CNC tool at home, want to show off your latest build, or just want to meet locals who are into this exciting technology!

• Who: Open to the public
• Where: Pumping Station: One, 3354 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL
• When: Wednesday, February 8th, 7pm
• Cost: Free ($5 suggested donation for non-members to help us pay the rent)

Typical Schedule:

• 7-7:10: people show up
• 7:10-7:25: introductions round-robin
• 7:25-9pm or so: schmoozing, machine assembly and show off, discussion of tools and techniques

Image: Quantum ORD Bot by Thingiverse user (and friend of PS:One) bdring

We had the recent reprap build event, and now the hacked vinyl cutter, makerbot, PS:One′s own RepRap Mendel, and the brand new CNC tool (it’s extremely cool, but I’m not allowed to announce it on this blog yet) have taken over half of the electronics work area.

To complete the CNC takeover, PS:One will hold a monthly Automation Station: One event where people are encouraged to bring their in-progress projects for building in a communal atmosphere and completed projects to show off.

All CNC tools are welcome: additive, subtractive, mills, lasers, printers, frosters, plotters, RepRaps, and even egg-bots.  There will be an emphasis on open source hardware/software tools, but not exclusively so.

This first event will be on July 20th at 7pm at Pumping Station: One. Non-member CNC enthusiasts (and any projects they wish to share) are welcome to attend.

Image: “Colbertopus” by Thingiverse user Renosis.

Transmissometer from Pumping Station: One on Vimeo.

Here are more details on the device, including photos, schematics, and source code.

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the build and filming!

On December 3, Jeff rebooted Transistor Thursdays with a “Solder Your Own Freeduino” class.  I had never played with an Arduino before, so I excitedly took the class.  I soldered it together, jumped for joy when the tests worked, and did the classic Arduino “hello world” of making an LED blink.  I played around with that for a little while, and then I got other ideas.

As anyone who has seen me play with my Commodores knows, I enjoy getting things to make noise.  Blinky is fun, but for me, loud is even more fun.  I went to my locker, cut a speaker off of a circuit board that I had already harvested for a few other parts for other projects, and hooked that up to the Arduino.  I then started familiarizing myself with the music coding commands…and didn’t stop until I had my Arduino playing something that was guaranteed to inspire people to throw ping pong balls at me.

The fact that the Arduino code loops over and over again until you cut the power meant there was only one song I could possibly choose for this:  The Song That Never Ends.

We’re going to have another solder your own arduino workshop next month for those of you who couldn’t get a ticket.  The next workshop is going to be on a weekend and have some portions tweaked and retooled.  Thanks again to the first group who helped us out with some great feedback for this first dry run.  Stay tuned to the blog for more details.